Day 3 - Hiking and Chillin'

I hiked the Lynn Loop with my mom this morning.  It was a beautiful hike!  It took us 1hr and 52mins from the car and was 7.47km.  There were lots of hikers, dog walkers and runners out on this beautiful Saturday morning.

This was my first hike of the year and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.  The trail was luckily bear free.  We did see evidence that bears were around though.

Would you believe that this was a bear track?

The only wildlife that we saw - other than several dogs - were a few banana slugs.  I had originally thought that banana slugs were on the endangered species list but it seemed that they were out in full force on the trail today.  I have a soft spot in my heart for banana slugs.  When I was a kid I attended a Nueva Summer Camp in Hillsborough, California.  This was back when my parents thought I was gifted and destined for Stanford not normal and destined to be a Human Resources professional with only an undergrad from UBC ;-).  Anyways this camp inspired my love for the banana slug and I was happy to see so many today.  I even almost picked one up to rescue it but my mom got kind of grossed out by me suggesting this so I spared her.

My friend the Banana Slug

I think one of the most interesting things that you often see on hikes are old growth trees which have fallen over.  Look at the root system on the one below.  Isn't it remarkable?!

Root system of an old growth tree

Another thing that I noticed about this trail that I don't think I had noticed when I hiked it the last time were the stairs.  I am a firm believer that trails should not have stairs!  I suppose in some areas the stairs are to prevent erosion of the trail, however, isn't the trail itself stairs made by mother nature herself?

Stairs

Nature's Stairs

After our great hike we decided to just take it easy and have spent the rest of the day relaxing while my dad finishes work on our pool.

Today's Lesson: Take the time to enjoy our surroundings.  We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world!